U.S. Circulates Its Latest Iran Weapons Resolution at the UN

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. has circulated a new resolution to United Nations Security Council members calling for an extension of the UN’s arms embargo against Iran, according to a copy of the text obtained by Bloomberg News.

It asks UN members states to stop all sales of weapons to and from Iran and to refrain from providing any “technical training, financial resources or services, advice, other services or assistance related to the supply, sale, transfer, manufacture, maintenance, or use of arms” to Iran.

The new resolution is almost identical to one the U.S. circulated in June, signaling the Trump administration is unwilling to make changes suggested by allies and opponents on the Security Council.

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft acknowledged Tuesday that Russia and China are likely to veto any resolution. That could spell a crisis at the UN, with Craft and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo threatening to invoke a “snapback” provision in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal to reimpose all UN sanctions against Tehran. The U.S. says it can do that even though President Donald Trump quit the multinational accord in 2018.

“The strategy in a perfect world will always be to have them abstain and obviously not veto” the U.S. resolution, Craft said of Russia and China in an online appearance at the annual Aspen Security Forum. “However, let’s be realistic here. Right now the strategy is working with other members of the Security Council” to put China and Russia “in a corner and shine a light on them.”

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